Seal-lock



Patented Dec. 27, |898.

P. B. SMITH.

SEAL LOCK.

(Application filed Mar. 25, 1897.)

(No Model.)

ANSA.

Iren STATES v PATENT OFFICE;

PLINY B. SMITH; OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS,`ASSIGNOR TO IHIMSELF, ANDIIIEODORE WILBUR SNOW, OF BATAVIA, ILLINOIS;

SEAL- SPECIFICATION forming pea of heitere Patent No. 616,499, datedDecember 2v, 189s.

Application filed March 25, 1897 Serial No. 629,170, (No model.)

To all whom, t may concern.'

Be it known that I, PLINY B. SMITH, a citi- Y,Een or the United States,residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Seal-Locks, of which thefollowing is a specication.

My invention relates to that class of locks for railway-cars and thelike in which a frangible seal is secured in the lock in such mannerthat it is impossible to open the lock without fracturing or mutilatiu gthe seal, thus betraying the fact that the look has been opened.

The object o the invention is to provide an improved device of thischaracter which shall be simple and economical to manufacture andoperate and effective in accomplishing the purposes for which it isdesigned.

The invention consists in the matters hereinafter set forth, and moreparticularly pointed out in the appended claims, when considered inconnection with the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is a frontelevation showing a lock embodying my improvements applied to a car andadj usted in locking position,with its bolt projected and with afrangible seal secured in the lock. Fig. 2 is a sectional elevationtaken on line 2 2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a fragmentary detail taken on thesame line of section as Fig. 2, but illustrating more particularly theposition assumed by the tumbler immediately after the beginning of theupward movement by which the bolt is retracted from its lockingposition. Fig. A is a similar view showing more particularly theposition assumed .by the tumbler when the bolt is moved downward to itslocking position. Fig. 5 is a transverse section taken on lines 5 5 oiFigs. i and 2. Fig. 6 is a perspective view 0I" the bolt, showing thetumbler in position within it. Fig. is a perspective view of the pawl ortumbler. Fig. S is a perspective view of the seal.v

In said drawings, A designates the front portion and B the back of arectangular guide-casing designed to contain a lockingbolt C and topermit longitudinal movement thereof. In the convenient form ofconstruction herein shown laterally-projecting lugs a and ZJ,respectively, are provided 1n correl sponding positions on said frontand back of the casing and apertured to permit the passage of boltsD,which serve to clamp the parts of the casing together and to fastenthe lock as a whole to the side of the car. The reduced lower end c ofthe bolt C projects downwardly out of the casing through a suitableopening in the lower end of the latter and may be arranged to operate asa locking-bolt in any manner found desirable. As herein shown, anordinary hasp E, fastened to the car-door, iits over a staple F, securedin the frame of the car immediately below the lock, so that when thebolt C is projected its lower end c extends through the staple and locksthe hasp in position thereon. An aperture c' in the extremity of thebolt then permits the application of the ordinary tin or wire and leadseal, if desired.

The body of the bolt C within the casing is provided in its lower frontportion with a pocket c2, adapted to contain a frangible seal S. Asherein shown, this seal takes the form of a rectangular tablet, whichmay conveniently be made of clay or other cheap and brittle material,and is inserted in the pocket c2 of the bolt through an aperture a',which is provided in the front A of the casing ata point such that itwill register with said pocket when the bolt is raised to its uppermostposition. A smaller aperture a2 is furthermore provided in the front Aof the casing below the aperture a and at a point situated opposite tothe position occupied by the pocket c2 when the bolt is projected intoits locking position. This aperture a2 is too small to permit the sealto be inserted or removed through it without being fractured, butenables the seal to be readily inspected from without when the car islocked. As herein shown, the apertures a and a2 open into each other attheir adjacent ends and are only distinguished by the narrower width ofthe latter but they may obviously be entirely separate, if so desired. Aforwardly-projecting lug c3 provided on the front of the bolt at theupper edge of the recess c3 serves as a handle by which the bolt may bereadily raised or lowered.

G designates a gravity pawl or tumbler IOO pivotally mounted in a recessc4 formed in the body of the bolt C immediately behind the pocket c2.This pawl is substantially of the shape of a bell-crank lever,with arearwardlyprojecting end g and a down wardly-projecting end g', and itsproportions are such that it naturally hangs by gravity with its frontside in an approximately vertical position, as shown in Fig. 2. Asidefrom its pivotal movement the pawl Gr is permitted to have a limitedbodily movement from front to rear, in this instance by reason of themounting of its pintles g2 within upwardly and forwardly projectingslots c5 in the side walls of the bolt C. When the bolt is projectedinto its locking position, the rear end g of the pawl extends into anaperture b provided adjacently in the back B of the casing, the pawl atthis time being in its rearmost position,with its pintles g2 occupyingthe position at the bottom of the slots, which they naturally assumeunder the action of gravity. When the bolt is raised from its lockingposition, the rear end of the pawl strikes 'the upper margin b' of theaperture b and tilts or rotates the pawl so as to force its lower end g'into the seal-pocket c2, after the manner indicated in Fig. 3. Then asthe bolt approaches its uppermost position the upper end of the pawlenters a second aperture b2 formed in the back B of the casing andpermits the pawl to drop by gravity into its normal position once more.In the return or downward movement of the bolt the rear end g of thepawl strikes the back 0f the casing below the aperture b2 and rotates itslightly, so as to cause its lower portion to strike the casing also,after which the pawl is forced bodily forward far enough to clear thecasing, but not enough to force it into the seal-pocket, so as tointerfere with the seal therein, the pintles of the pawl slidingupwardly and forwardly in the slots c5 to the necessary extent to permitthis movement. This combination of rotary and bodily movement which mustbe given the pawl in order to enable it to clear the casing and permitthe bolt to be removed without affecting the sealrenders it practicallyim possible for any person to manipulate the pawl by means of a wire orotherwise so as to lift the bolt Without breaking the seal. The pawl isfurthermore protected from the introduction of a wire or otherinstrument for this purpose by the lower rear ledge cG of the bolt andby the margins CL3 of the casing around the opening u2, which protectthe seal when the bolt is in locking position.

The operation of the lock in use will be readily understood. Vhen thebolt is raised, the seal S can be readilyinserted in the pocket yc2 ofthe bolt through the aperture a in the front of the casing. The pawl Gat this time will hang in its normal position behind thev pocket c2, andalthough it will be slightly rotated and forced bodily forward in themanner before described when the bolt is moved downward into itslockingv position yet this movement of the pawl will not be great enoughto disturbl the seal. After the bolt is once fully projected to itslocking position, how'- ever, it is impossible to raise it again withoutrotating the pawl into the recess occupied by the seal, as shown in Fig.3, and this cannot occur without its fracturing or mutilating the seal,so as to make it apparent that the car has been unlocked since the sealwas placed in position.

Among the advantages of the device thus described may be prominentlymentioned its simplicity and cheapness of construction,botl1 as to thelock itself and as to the form of seal which it employs. A perfectlysatisfactory form of the lattercan be made simply of baked clay moldedinto rectangular form and bearing the initials of the railway company orany other desired marking. The lock itself consists of but four pieces,which may conveniently be made of malleable cast-iron or the like andneed no machine-work whatever, the pintles of the pawl being readilycast integral therewith and the recess cl being readily made sufcientlywider than the pawl and of. such shape as to permit said pintles to beslipped endwise into the slots c5. Obviously when the lock is made andinstalled on the car all expense ceases except for the sea-ls, which, asabove stated, are of the cheapest possible construction, the simplicityand durability of the parts of the lock being such that the expense forbreakage and repairs ordinarily to be gured on can be practicallyentirely neglected.

I claim as my inventionl. A seal-lock, comprising a guide-casing, alocking-bolt sliding within said casing, a pocket in said bolt forreceiving a frangible seal, an aperture in the casing registering withthe pocket in the bolt when the latter is retracted and through whichthe seal can be inserted in said pocket, a smaller aperture in thecasing situated at a point opposite the pocket when the bolt isprojected and through which the seal is visible but not removable unlessfractured, a movable pawl mounted in the bolt adjacent to the pocket,and means for forcing said pawl into the pocket to fracture the sealwhen the bolt is retracted.

2. A seal-lock, comprising a guide-casing,- a locking bolt slidingwithin said casing, a pocket in said bolt for receiving a frangibleseal, an aperture in the casing for admitting the seal to said pocket, asecond aperture in the casing through which the seal is visible when thebolt is projected, a pivoted pawl mounted in the bolt adjacent to thepocket, a stop on the casing engaging one end of the pawl to swing itsother end against the seal when the bolt is retracted, and meanspermitting a bodily movement of the pawl past said stop withoutdisturbing the seal when the bolt is projected.

3. A seal-lock, comprising a casing, a bolt sliding within said casing,a pocket in said bolt adapted to receive and contain afrangible seal, agravity-pawl pivotally mounted in upwardly-inclined slots in the wallsof the bolt, an opening in the wall of the casing adapted to receive theend of the pawl when the bolt is projected, and a second opening in saidWall of the casing adapted t0 receive said end of the pawl when the boitis retracted.

4. In a seal-lock, the combination, with the casing, consisting of thefront portion A having the apertures ce and a2 and the back portion Bhaving the openings b and b2, and with the boit C having the pocket c2,recess c4, and

slots c5, of the gravity-pawi G, having the end I0 g adapted to enterthe apertures b and b2, and the end g adapted to enter the pocket c2,and with its pintles g2 engaging the slots c5 of the bolt.

PLINY B. SMITH.

Witnesses:

DEO C. KREIDLER, MORTON V. GILBERT.

